China’s military mouthpiece has accused Japan of hollowing out its pacifist constitution and “embarking on the dangerous path of military expansion”.
Advertisement
As Japan marked the 80th anniversary of its surrender in World War II on Friday, the PLA Daily warned in a commentary that “the spectre of militarism has never left the Japanese archipelago”, and that right-wing forces had “never abandoned the dream of becoming a military power”.
It accused Tokyo of using American support to steadily roll back post-war restrictions and trigger “deep concern in the international community over the revival of militarism”.
09:49
Japan weighs bold era of militarisation as Tokyo races to meet defence spending goals
Japan weighs bold era of militarisation as Tokyo races to meet defence spending goals
The commentary coincided with Japanese Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary, the first confirmed visit by a cabinet member from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s administration.
Such visits have consistently drawn sharp criticism from China and other Asian neighbours, which view the shrine as glorifying Japanese militarism and insulting the victims of Japan’s wartime aggression.
The commentary in the People’s Liberation Army’s newspaper also warned against Tokyo’s expanding defence partnerships, citing deeper US-Japan military integration, reciprocal access agreements with Australia, Britain and the Philippines, and growing engagement with Nato.
Advertisement
“Under the pretext of cooperation and exchange, Japan is using military linkages to build momentum for its own military development,” it said.
On Tuesday, the Philippines and Japan formally exchanged diplomatic notes to activate their reciprocal access agreement.